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6January
2007

what is this, a freak out?

maura @ 8:49 pm

A few weeks ago I read that book Everything Bad Is Good For You. You know the one: its subtitle is “How Today’s Popular Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter”. I’d heard about it last year and resisted reading it because I figured it wouldn’t tell me anything I didn’t already implicitly know and agree with.* But a few weeks ago Jonathan brought it home from the library and it taunted me with its saucy red cover and its can-be-read-in-three-days-ness so I had to read it.

* Sometimes I think that I am just surrounding myself with people/places/ideas that are exactly like the ones I already have. And sometimes I think that I shouldn’t do that anymore, and I should branch out more into the realm of stuff I may not altogether agree with. And sometimes I even do it.

Yeah, I liked it. I mean, one of the goals of the book seems to be to make people feel good about the amount of time they spend watching TV and playing video games (watching movies, too, but less so). So of course anyone who does any of those things would be all “hell, yeah, I’m getting smarter with each episode of BSG, pass the cheetos!”

What really tickled me/was interesting is that one of the video games he uses to make his point is Wind Waker, the very game that Gus adores. And it’s made me think even more on the fact that Gus has continued to play this game even though we won it 2 months ago. It is a really huge and rich environment. The world is a grid of 49 islands that you sail between, and has about a zillion side quests (that we didn’t do when we were “winning” the game). So thus far there are still lots of new things for Gus (and us, still, if it gets too hard) to do. He’s definitely learned and memorized a lot about the game, much more than we have.

Anyway, I don’t know where I’m going with this. Maybe I’m just trying to make myself feel better that this afternoon when he said, “I don’t want to ride my bike anymore, I just want to play video games,” we went home and played video games. But when he grows up to be a genius THEN you’ll see! Yeah!


6 comments on “what is this, a freak out?”

Anne (7 January 2007 at 4:31 pm)

Nobody ever got hit by a bus while playing video games!

maura (8 January 2007 at 4:55 pm)

So true! Though it feels better believing that on days when it’s NOT 70 degrees and sunny.

Anne (10 January 2007 at 4:31 pm)

p.s. And oh, yes, this IS a freak out!!!!! Cheney and Gov. Kaine are thwarting my already-too-long commute! Why can’t I lead a normal life where these things never happen??

maura (11 January 2007 at 10:16 am)

Wait, what is the thwarting? I’m confused!

Anne (11 January 2007 at 2:33 pm)

Oh, never mind…it was nothing after all. The thing is, I take the ferry–which is located at the end of Jamestown Road. The only other thing down there is Jamestown Settlement/Island, and the genius politicos we have here (VP and state gov) decided to kick off the big 2007 anniversary of the colony by giving speeches there on the same day, in the middle of th week! So I thought there would be tons of traffic but it ended up that I got home early! So I have to stop complaining now!

maura (11 January 2007 at 8:32 pm)

Ohhhh, I get it. Boo for the VP, anyway, just because! I’m glad there didn’t end up being any more traffic.

And of course you NEVER have to stop complaining, how could you even think that?


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